Persona grata Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth
Greetings, Readers! And welcome to what can only be described as a very interesting ride through the mind of The D. In our sights on this fine day will be Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth, developed by Atlus for the Nintendo 3DS. Now, before I get to the technical stuff, I would just like to state that I have been playing Persona Q for two days now, and have become hopelessly addicted to its Etrian Odyssy style game play, utilizing a huge variety of personas to choose from, ensuring variety for the gaming pallet. The game features characters from persona 3 and 4 in an all new dungeon crawling adventure to escape the echos left in time of the high school they all share. Beautifully integrated graphics, coupled with mesmerizing characters and monster designs, make the visual appeal of the game enormous. Usually in games like these the environment and sprites can become very monotonous. However, the game has succeeded in creating many unique and interesting settings throughout the school, which is used as a home base, and the Labyrinth system, where the action takes place. Another thing I love is the return of the “BOSS” and, hierarchical style, mobs. For too long has the RPG been plagued by “captain” and lieutenant lord bosses to satisfy the slaying. Remember the days of Diablo II? Oh, how the times have changed. Gone are the days of acting morbid about killing monsters. Why can’t it be a more enjoyable affair? Like a barbarian checking his facebook in between demon gaffing! Now obviously you can’t have a good Persona game without great characters, and seeing as the game contains many of the most loved characters from previous Persona games, there is no shortage of laughs and good times, with a persona to fit any play style.
With attacks ranging from kicks to angelically summoned beams of light, the fighting engine has an all inclusive range of styles, as well as unique fight scene animation for each attack. The only thing that would be a proverbial fly in my pudding of persona, would be the lack of conflict animations in battle combat scenes where physical contact is to be displayed. Don’t get me wrong, the animations are perfect! However, the special contact between two fighting personas leaves a bit to be desired. Other than that, the game boasts excellent story line quality as well as breath taking graphics that will keep any real gamer busy for days to come. Do yourself a favour and grab this title for your 3DS collection, and if you do not own a 3DS, perhaps this game may have the power to tip the balance.
The D